Circular Economy at the Manufacturing 2075 Forum

TECHNIA Manufacturing Centre of Excellence had the pleasure of attending the Manufacturing 2075 Forum. The event, held at Cranfield University, harnessed the insight of global thought leaders to explore the premises of Sustainable Manufacturing and the Circular Economy.

Attending the Manufacturing 2075 Forum

The Bank of England warns that £20 trillion of assets could be wiped out by climate change if companies fail to prepare now

With pressing government initiatives such as UK Net Zero 2050, manufacturing companies are increasingly compelled to develop sustainable processes. These changes in procedure must aim to protect assets, support growth in a changing environment, and continue to provide the highest value to the customer.

The Manufacturing 2075 forum was a showcase for the need to align business processes with the Circular Economy to meet these demands.

You can also check out our recent blog post for more on this topic.

Moving with Customer Demand

Our environmental, economic and social climates are changing

Dr. Andy Clifton, the Sustainability Manager at Rolls Royce, spoke of their Total Care Model and Revert program. The Revert program is now capable of recycling almost 50% of aero engines in a closed-loop system, with material being returned to its provider.

A host of cyclic process data will need to be collaboratively controlled- whether it is a Bill of Materials or order documents being managed and signed off – as companies incorporate re-use ideology to improve efficiencies and resource use.

Decentralizing Supply Chains

What does the future of manufacturing look like?

Associate Professor Fiona Charnley presented her views on creating value from a Circular Economy in the Digital Age. Key insights include the development of a Leasing or Servitised Economy along with the rise of decentralised and distributed manufacturing chains. This means greater emphasis is required in all areas of a product’s lifecycle. From design requirements for the long term and re-use to the increasingly complex process controls that track its quality to customisations and delivery across supply chains.

Circular Manufacturing with PLM

How can PLM help to bring sustainable change to manufacturing processes?

PLM platforms provide businesses with all the tools needed to control all these aspects of a product’s lifecycle. Whether it is using Issue Management apps to act on product “Health Metrics” provided by B.I. Essential tools for CAD models, or Variant apps for configuration options to re-use and optimize designs.

The 3DEXPERIENCE platform can be tailored to your company’s own process flow, bringing your processes closer to the customer’s circular needs. Seamless product data integration is provided between stakeholders via collaborative spaces and legacy data is also maintained through migration / PLM Collaborative Services to support growing systems. At a higher level, product planning and program management roles can be used to extend distributed manufacturing along with manufacturing modelling apps such as DELMIA.

Final Thoughts

The right PLM solution can provide invaluable tools to help you meet sustainability goals that benefit your company, your customers and the planet

This might mean optimizing material use through intelligent engineering design within CAD apps. Or perhaps reducing time to market through change management roles and re-use templates. But companies that share their customers’ interest in maintaining high quality and longevity of a product each benefit from PLM.

As members of the engineering community, we are at the forefront of change and action. We must continue to listen not only to our customers but to the world. In doing so, we understand that less waste and more efficient resource use ultimately lead to higher savings.

In an Industry 4.0 society, digital engineering tools are the key to achieving this through data connectivity and collaboration.